Newport
McNamara and the Tigers never relinquished the lead after scoring first in the second quarter, holding off a late run the by Kearsarge Cougars for a 21-14 victory on Saturday afternoon at Byrne Field.
Newport hasn’t lost a game in two years after its undefeated championship season a year ago, though time has done its best to slow the Tigers’ momentum.
Featured running backs C.J. Lawrence and Noah Wade, line leader Christian Lawrence and athletic wide receiver Stephen Nix have all since graduated. Title-winning head coach Larry McElreavy has left for Pembroke Academy. This is a different Newport football team by all accounts.
McNamara and his leadership, however, have been one of the few consistent factors.
“I approached (this season) knowing that we’d have to work harder than we had the last couple of years,” McNamara said. “We have a lot of new guys playing. … A lot of new faces this year. We knew we’d have to work a little harder than the last couple of years because we lost some key players.”
Saturday’s season opener was somewhat of a coming-out party for freshman running back John Thibault, who ran for 10 times for 103 yards and all thee Newport touchdowns. It didn’t take long for the Noah Wade comparisons to catch up to him after an impressive debut performance.
First year head coach Richard Boone, determined not to inherit a rebuilding program despite the big-name departures, had nothing but praise for Thibault, the Tigers’ newest weapon.
“I was sort of keeping him under wraps before the season,” Boone said with a laugh. “You can’t replace a Noah Wade. But if anybody is going to do it, it’s this guy. He’s a freshman and he’s doing things not to the level Noah did last year. He’s got big shoes to fill. But being only a freshman, he carried himself very well.”
Added Thibault: “I just want to fill those shoes as well as I can. We have a great line so we should have really good blocking this year. I just read my blocks as good as I can.”
Though as a running back corps, it’ll be hard to match last year’s success; Wade led the Upper Valley with 1,847 yards rushing in 161 attempts, and Lawrence added 793 yards in 113 attempts. Thibault and Tyler Sharron did their best impressions, combining for 26 rushes and 171 yards on the ground. McNamara’s talented arm was holstered on Saturday, adding only 20 yards on five rushing attempts. He was 1-for-1 in the air for only three yards.
With the big offensive names now gone, McNamara has adjusted his role. Boone has already taken notice.
“He’s matured a lot from last season,” Boone said. “He was voted on by his peers as a captain. That speaks a lot because we take captains very seriously over here. We don’t just let anybody into that position. The kids certainly respect him and he commands the huddle when he’s out there.”
“(A run-first strategy) has been Newport football since the inception,” he added. “We’re a run first, pass second team. We definitely have weapons when we’re ready to throw. I think we’ll do fine. Right now, we wanted to control the clock and control the line of scrimmage.”
Boone, it seems, will keep McNamara’s passing game in his back pocket as a secret weapon.
Newport struck first just 1 minute, 17 seconds into the second quarter, finishing off a 16-play drive with Thibault powering his way up the middle for his first varsity score. Kearsarge senior Parker Pitts answered a little more than eight minutes later, finishing off a third-and-goal from the 1-yard line. The Cougars 2-point conversion was unsuccessful, however, and the Tigers took a 7-6 lead into the half.
They didn’t waste any time after halftime, scoring on its first two possessions to build a 21-6 lead. Newport’s final touchdown was an impressive 52-yard run down the left field line from Thibault, showcasing a burst of speed to get past the Cougars’ trailing secondary.
Kearsarge stayed in the game, despite two fumbles and several offensive penalties that cost the Cougars momentum. Late in the fourth quarter, Kearsarge senior running back Justin Norris finally broke though for a 78-yard run into the end zone, cutting Newport’s lead to 21-14. Kearsarge recovered the ensuing onside kick with a chance to tie the game, but simply ran out of steam, giving the ball away on downs with seconds remaining on the clock.
“I think we had a few butterflies in that first half,” Boone said. “They didn’t do anything different than we expected. We made a readjustment in the second half. … The kids really stepped up and did what we expected them to do.”
Newport’s winning formula remains the same despite the turnover of personnel. With an experienced offensive and defensive line, and an undefeated championship season still in the memories of most, expectations will continue to be high despite the lack of name recognition.
McNamara has seen it all before. He now knows what takes. And he’s ready to do it all again.
“I just kind of take it how I did last year,” he said of his leadership role. “Share the love with everybody, get everybody involved, keep everybody fired up. Not get down on myself, not get down on everybody else.”
Notes: Newport junior lineman Peter Thibault was visibly ill throughout the game, spending most of his time hunched over and staring at the ground while turning green. Boone was asked what happened after the game, before younger brother John Thibault jumped in. “They had this protein drink before the game. Two of the players drank it and it didn’t go well.” … Kearsarge tight end David Benjamin and starting quarterback John Jallah both needed help off the field after suffering injuries in Saturday’s game. … Newport (1-0) will host Winnisquam next Saturday.
Josh Weinreb can be reached at jweinreb@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.